Stowaway seabird ends up landlocked

December 24, 2008

An Atlantic seabird that stowed away on an airplane in Newfoundland and wound up thousands of miles away in landlocked Alberta will get another free trip home.

The Shell oil company said it would pay to fly the black guillemot, of the turr species, to the easternmost province after it was found in a cargo hold of a private plane that arrived in Fort McMurray this week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Carol Kelly, executive director of the Medicine River Wildlife Center, told the CBC caring for the fish-eating bird was a challenge, although it was in good condition.

We’re tube-feeding him because I don’t have his natural food, obviously, she said, adding he’s jumping in the water and bathing regularly and running back up and giving us attitude each time we tube him.